I agree we could benefit from playing Xavi slightly more but his time as an automatic starter, especially in big games, is over. He is 35 and although he is still a good player, and an all time great, he simply isn't as suited to our game now as someone like Rakitic is.
You branded people as 'Xavi haters' in another thread which quite frankly couldn't be further from the truth. I ,like everyone else, think Xavi is one of the all time great midfielders but that phase of his career has ended. It seems that you cannot accept that and haven't moved on. Fingers crossed that Xavi will retire at the end of this year so he can put you out of your misery.
- Never said that Xavi should be an automatic starter
- When I read some comments about Xavi, I smell that there are some harsh unjustified critics. Never said that you were one amongst them
- I do believe that Xavi leaving this summer would be a massive mistake... --> without any replacement. Apart from Samper, who still has to progress, I can't think of any other player at Barca this season who has some similar qualities to Xavi.
Let's not forget that without Busquets, Iniesta, Xavi, Alves and Messi, Barca would never had developed one of the most beautiful games in football history.
When it comes to Rakitic, I'll repeat what I said from the 1000th time : he's a solid player, with some excellent attributes, but I have a strong feelnig that he might be a liability against certain types of elite level teams.
